I Love You Too

April 28, 2014
The lyrics to reggae artist Marley's Emmy-winning song, featured in the animated series 3rd & Bird, are presented with Jatkowska's smudgy, jewel-toned illustrations in the musician's first picture book. Three childrenâblack, brown, and whiteâare seen spending time together and with their parents. A father with spiky, sandy hair shares breakfast with his pigtailed daughter at the kitchen table: "When you tell me that you love me,/ this is what I'm gonna say," writes Marley before a page turn shows the same pair hugging in view of a vibrant green tree where two brightly colored birds are nuzzling: I love you too, I love you too, I love you." Subsequent pages depict the children fully engaged in nature, observing friendly fish underwater, bees buzzing around their hive, love-struck earthworms, and more; seasons pass, too, bringing the birth of a new sibling for one of the children and the arrival of Christmas. The repetitiveness of the chorus makes this book a more satisfying sing-aloud than a read-aloud, but it's a sweetly affectionate ode to togetherness and love all the same. Ages 1âup.

April 1, 2014
Lyrics inspired by an exchange with Marley's 3-year-old daughter are set to bright paintings of a multicultural cast of children and adults enjoying each other's company indoors and out. The Emmy-winning song is already available on recordings and as an app, and it's better suited to those formats. Here, without the music, the experience is primarily visual, since the lyrics are largely repetitions of the chorus--"I love you, I love you too. / I tell you, I love you"--interspersed with variations on "Like the fish loves the sea. // Like the honey and the bee" or "When you smile, I'll smile along. / When you cry, my comfort comes." Reflecting both the imagery and the warm intimacy of adjacent lines, three children and their parents (babies, grandparents and others put in cameos) in various combinations play together, sit at meals, observe birds and smiling worms, decorate a holiday tree or simply embrace lovingly in Jatkowska's illustrations. A note on Marley's charitable organization, Unlimited Resources Giving Enlightenment, follows the text. The art will draw and hold young children's attention, but the words hang together better when sung rather than spoken. (Picture book. 3-6)

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June 1, 2014

PreS-Inspired by a conversation with his three-year-old daughter while making breakfast, Marley wrote a song, the lyrics of which grace the pages of this book. The chorus repeats, "I love you too, I love you too./I tell you, I love you./I love you too, I love you too./I love you." The words and accompanying bright and cheerful illustrations show the various types of love young children have in their lives. The book depicts a multicultural cast of characters, and children will see families like theirs playing in a park, drawing pictures with friends, and decorating the Christmas tree. Sure to be a hit at bedtime, the lyrical story conveys the sweet, soothing, and affirming message.-Sarah Polace, Cuyahoga Public Library System, OH

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014
Marley sets his song of the same name to a picture book text. Kid-friendly similes ("I love you... / Like the fish loves the sea... / Like a lizard loves to climb, up into a tree") and cheery illustrations showing a cast of loving family and friends (of different ethnicities) add appeal even as the refrain grows repetitive.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)